Project SALVO
Project SALVO was a U.S. military program. It was based on the assumption that firing multiple projectiles would increase hit probability on the target. It ran from 1952 to 1960. History The project was started in November of 1952, and was multi-agency, having immediately diverged into three different areas of experimentation. Mutliple-bullet, single-barrel The Operations Research Office (ORO) became a strong proponent of the multiple-bullet, single-barrel salvo weapon concept, testing duplex and triplex loadings in a number of experimental cartridges, all based around the standard .30 caliber case. A version of ORO's 7.62×51mm NATO-based duplex round was subsequently adopted, designated the M198 Duplex, with significant justification that it was a "low-cost, low-risk, high-payoff innovation". However, the M198 cartridge was never made in significant numbers nor was it ever issued in token quantities. Two- and three-barrel salvo weapons Springfield Armory and Winchester-Olin developed several designs for complex and unwieldy prototypes of two- and three-barreled salvo weapons designed to fire near-simultaeous bursts of small-caliber projectiles. Valuable research on the nature of burst fire was gained from each of those studies. However, as a design for a combat shoulder rifle, the imbalance of their weighty multiple barrels proved to be particularly impractical. AAI 32-flechette shotgun shell Even before the project started, AAI's own Irwin Barr was developing single- and multiple-flechette cartridges. The Navy, out of interest for the concept, provided him with developmental funding from the Office of Naval Research (ORN), resulting in the creation of a 12 guage, 32-flechette shotgun shell. The Army added later funding, as well, along with AAI having been invited to participate in the project. In SALVO testing, the flechettes were found to be able to penetrate one side of a standard steel helmet at 500 yards (460 m), which was excellent considering their light weight. However, the dispersion of the projectiles proved so great that it made them only marginally useful. Further development of the flechette concept continued by adapting a Winchester Model 70 rifle to fire the single-flechette 5.6×53mm XM110 round. This resulted in a weapon with somewhat less accuracy than the 7.62mm NATO rounds, but with equivalent penetration and a highly flat trajectory that no sight adjustment is needed out to 400 yards (370 m). Better yet, the rounds were very light, and had almost no recoil in comparison to even the .22 caliber weapons under development. This meant they could be fired at extremely high cyclic rates, from a very lightweight weapon. Results of the Field Experiments 1956 was an eventful year for U.S. Army Ordnance developments. The AR-10 was introduced to the Infantry Board and other officers, and many thought it an admirable attempt to create a truly modern and controllable light rifle firing the 7.62mm NATO cartridge. The latest developmental model of the T44, the nine-pound T44E4, was meanwhile still nearly a full year away from adoption as the M14. At that time, this was the backdrop of what would be known as the "SALVO I Field Experiment". Within this framework of innovative combat simulation, three different SALVO concepts were tested in the period June to July of 1956, alongside the M1 rifle firing the standard M2 AP cartridge as control. More information to be added References *Revisiting the SPIW Part 1 on smallarmsreview.com *Wikipedia article on the SPIW - Project SALVO section Category:Programs